


A Soft Epilogue

by SunshineSkies13



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Agni Kai (Avatar), Avatar, Bending (Avatar), Eventual Katara/Zuko (Avatar), F/M, Healer Katara, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Injured Zuko (Avatar), POV Katara (Avatar), Post-The Last Agni Kai (Avatar), Sick Zuko (Avatar), Slow Burn Katara/Zuko (Avatar), The Last Agni Kai (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar)-centric, Zutara, Zutara Month, Zutara Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:53:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25196497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunshineSkies13/pseuds/SunshineSkies13
Summary: How Zuko and Katara should have finally gotten together (post lightening strike au)
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 187





	A Soft Epilogue

The second the lightning hit him, Katara felt the other shoe drop.   
When Zuko regained consciousness to the sight of blue eyes, every wall he’d ever put up crumbled.

Then, Azula, shrieking somewhere in the distance. Him, in her arms, unable to decipher if the “you’re alright’s” were questions or encouragements. The stench of smoke and something burning finally starting to dissipate as rain began to fall. 

He never thought homecoming would be like this.   
Although, to be fair, the last time he had thought about homecoming had been a lifetime ago. 

Katara shoulders through the palace’s servants entrance as she supports him on her other side. It’s eerily quiet with only the sound of the water thudding on the flat roof above. 

“A bedroom.” He hears the waterbender pant. “Where’s a bedroom?” 

Once they’ve limped their way to an obscure guest room, he all but collapses on the bed, a harsh sigh escaping through tight lips as he instinctively curls slightly inward. He can feel she’s closed the wound where he was struck, but his chest still burns and he has the general feeling someone’s tossed him off a cliff. 

Zuko doesn't register her leaving, but she must have, because the next thing he knows she’s holding a million blankets and new clothes and a water jug and urging him to sit up for just one second. 

This shift, this new reality, the one that just seemed to snap into place and how were we even functioning before this just makes so much sense -   
It becomes super apparent as Katara carefully eases the tattered shirt over his head, gingerly slides the rain-soaked pants down his legs, and dresses him in dry, warm clothes in a comfortable silence. 

“I’m worried you’re going to get sick.” She confesses in low tones, stripping back the bed covers. “The big stuff’s healed, but you’ve still got some recovering to do and your immune system is shot right now.” 

“Shot?” The corners of his mouth pull up. “Too soon, Katara.” 

She flashes him a small smile, ushering him into the bed. “Maybe.” 

He feels her eyes on him as he settles in, lets his eyes close and lean into her touch as she winds her fingers through his hair. He’s asleep within minutes. 

By the second nightfall, a carrier pigeon all but smashes into the front door, delivering news that Aang was victorious and they would all be coming to the palace in the next few days. Outside, Azulia had stopped shrieking and had either killed herself or passed out - Katara wasn’t about to go out and check which. 

As the sun dipped bellow the horizon, the water bender made her way back into Zuko’s room. As the door opened, she winced at the warmth radiating throughout the chamber.   
Fuck, the firebender has got a fever, all right.

Zuko starts at the sound of the door opening and pushes himself up on his elbows.   
“Hey.”

“Hey yourself.” She walks a little too fast to his bed like there’s a magnetic force pulling them together. She can’t believe it took a literal lightning strike for her to finally be this honest with herself. She can’t believe they pretended for so long. 

Zuko’s face is flushed with fever and he rests the side of his head against her stomach when she makes it to his bedside. Her hands instantly find his back and she drags the tips of her fingers over the ridged muscle. Just as she decides she could stay like that forever, the firebender lurches away and coughs, a harsh congested sound that makes her wince. 

“Would it help if I told you I’m really fine?” He rasps afterward, somehow finding the energy to raise his eyebrows tauntingly at her. 

“You mean would lying to me help?” She stacks two pillows behind him and pushes his shoulders down into a slightly upright position to help with his breathing. “No, for some reason I don’t think so.” That elicits a weak chuckle that quickly evolves into another cough. 

“Fine.” He murmurs as the coughs finally subside and he lets his eyes close. “Then in the name of honesty I’m going to need a couple days before someone tries to kill you with lightning again.” 

“Oh yeah?” 

“Yeah. Just like…” He clears his throat. “Wait until Tuesday. I’ll take another zap on Tuesday.” 

Despite the lighthearted words, Zuko’s face is screwed up in pain. Katara clocks how shallow his breaths are and the glisten of sweat on his brow. She decides she dosen’t like the joke anymore and drops the sarcasm.

“As long as you come back to me.”   
His eyes flicker open at that, catching and holding her gaze with an intensity that makes her chest feel like it’s on fire. 

“Of course.” He croaks. “Always.” 

And then his lips are on hers and it’s soft, careful. She’s gently carding her fingers through his hair and feels the weight of his hands on her hips and it’s not fireworks so much as the feeling of finally finally coming home. They break apart and she holds his gaze for a second longer, soothing back his hair and placing her hand on his forehead. 

“Get some rest, I want your fever to break.” 

“Alright.” He sits up off the pillows, pulling her on top of him before relaxing back down. “Then come here.”


End file.
